Le Pen’s 5-year ineligibility verdict sparks international backlash

ISTANBUL

The French court ruling barring presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen from office for five years sparked backlash from abroad, with the verdict being attacked by figures including Matteo Salvini, Italy’s far-right deputy prime minister, and tech billionaire Elon Musk.

The 56-year-old front-runner for the 2027 presidential contest was banned from running for public office for five years after being convicted of embezzling EU funds.

The judge also handed Le Pen a four-year prison sentence, and a 100,000-euro ($108,200) fine.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban showed his support for Le Pen and wrote “I am Marine!” on X in French.

“An ugly movie we are also seeing in other countries such as Romania,” Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Salvini said on X, comparing the sentence to the Romanian authorities’ decision to exclude the former frontrunner Calin Georgescu from the country’s presidential race.

He described the verdict as a “declaration of war by Brussels,” saying that it came at a time when “the warlike impulses of Von der Leyen and Macron are frightening.”

Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik said Le Pen was convicted for being a “threat” to a system that “doesn’t know how to lose.”

“She, like me, is paying the price for having the kind of popular support they can’t defeat at the ballot box. Courts have become tools for those who fear democracy—because they know they can’t win against us in fair elections,” Dodik wrote on X, underlining that the verdict was about politics rather than law.

Russia also reacted, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov terming Le Pen’s sentencing as a "violation of democracy."

“In general, our observations about European capitals show that they absolutely do not bend there to go beyond the bounds of democracy during the political process,” Peskov said, underlining that European capitals increasingly follow the path of “trampling democratic norms.”

Dutch politician Geert Wilders expressed his shock “by the incredible tough verdict” against Le Pen.

“I support and believe in her for the full 100% and I trust she will win the appeal and become President of France,” Wilders wrote on X.

"When the radical left can’t win via democratic vote, they abuse the legal system to jail their opponents," said Musk, an ally of US President Donald Trump. "This is their standard playbook throughout the world."